FM Cultural Calendar | Starting Wednesday, January 15, 2014

WickedWhen last seen Pittsburgh in 2011, Wicked broke box office records and sold out in record time. Winner of 35 major awards, including a Grammy and three Tony Awards, Wicked is Broadway's biggest blockbuster, a cultural phenomenon and was just named "the defining musical of the decade" by The New York Times. Long before Dorothy arrives in Munchkinland, two girls meet in the land of Oz. One - born with emerald green skin - is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. See how they became the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.01/15/2014 - 02/09/2014Benedum Center, 237 7th St., Pittsburgh, PAwebsite | map

Location: Unitarian Universalist Church of the South Hills, 1240 Washington Rd, Pittsburgh, PAwebsite

New Esterhazy Quartet - A Flight of FuguesFrom its earliest origins in canon and ricercar, the fugue has challenged composers as a showcase for technical and expressive brilliance within the confines of a highly formalized structure. In this 150-year fugue sampler, New Esterhazy Quartet presents a tasting of the genre from novel to notorious, highlighting vintages of Purcell, Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn.01/17/2014Time: 8:00 pmSynod Hall, 125 N. Craig St, Pittsburgh, PAwebsite | map

Behind the Notes - Also Sprach ZarathustraChristoph Koenig presents a detailed inside look at Richard Strauss' powerful tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra, inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's book. Koenig will uncover the musical secrets to each of the seven "chapters" of this towering masterpiece. It begins with a musical "sunrise" made famous in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, possibly the most well-known two minutes of music ever written. After intermission, hear the complete work.01/18/2014Time: 8:00 pmHeinz Hall, 600 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PAwebsite | map